More than half of U.S. dog owners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs, including against rabies, according to a new study published Saturday in the journal Vaccine. The study comes as anti-vaccine sentiments among humans have exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pets are now often considered to be a member of the family, and their health-care decisions are weighed with the same gravity. But the consequences of not vaccinating animals can be just as dire as humans. Dogs, for example, are responsible for 99% of rabies cases globally. Rabies, which is often transmitted via a bite, is almost always fatal for animals and people once clinical signs appear. A drop in rabies vaccination could constitute a serious public health threat.

In the new study, the authors surveyed 2,200 people and found 53% had some concern about the safety, efficacy or necessity of canine vaccines. Nearly 40% were concerned that vaccines could cause dogs to develop autism, a theory without any scientific merit.

  • edric
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    1 year ago

    Welp, looks like rabies is gonna have a huge comeback. I bet there’s a huge overlap with antivaxx owners and unleashed pets too.

    • @[email protected]
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      831 year ago

      It’s really sad too.

      One interpretation of the cause of this problem is that vaccines are just too effective. No one has polio, not to mention even chicken pox.

      A resurgence of rabies (or, god forbid, small pox) will clear that up real quick.

      Then again, too much of this planet have been fed a steady diet of propaganda for most of their adult lives.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          And? All that needs to happen for a major world outbreak now that almost no one has any immunity is for it to escape from a lab or a vial in cardboard box somewhere.

          How many millions died from COVID? Try billions.

          Let me tell you what, that would sure reduce our carbon footprint and the price of housing.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        I literally saw lady letting fucking hellspawn of a child COVERED IN CHICKEN POX run around barefoot at Aldi a few weeks ago. I was so panicked I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t even see them until I was walking out so I just got out as fast as I could. My wife has never had chickenpox, and adult chickenpox can apparently be much more deadly, so it was definitely kind of terrifying.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          It’s extinct in the wild. It’s still frozen in labs, and the soviet union made it in vast quantities before falling apart. There’s also samples sitting around that are occasionally found.

          It’s not completely gone. That’s why they still vaccinate you for it when you join the military.

          A simple search would tell you that there is a great deal of controversy over the fact that this virus is not gone forever.

          Try to be better and not amplify false statements.

    • @[email protected]
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      211 year ago

      Cats too. I hate that people let cats roam, it’s irresponsible and shitty to just let your pet out to do whatever it wants with everyone else’s property. And now there are gonna be unvaccinated, rabid cats roaming and infecting it further.

      Hey maybe the apocalypse is coming and this is the start of a zombie/aggressive rabies outbreak!

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          They deserve to explore and be happy

          Do they deserve to explore and suffer horrible injuries and/or death? All the while decimating local bird populations, and, if not spayed or neutered, creating more kittens to live lives full of suffering and hardship?

                • @[email protected]
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                  1 year ago

                  Why would I like to know that you’re proud of potentially causing suffering to your pets and other animals?

                  Even just today I had to rescue a kitten who had been yelling for hours near my house because their owners let them outside. At least she was microchipped so we could find them easily, but she was not happy about it at all. Came running after me as soon as she saw me, and ran inside the house when I opened the kitchen door.

        • @[email protected]
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          61 year ago

          Can you imagine if dog people just opened their doors at night, let their dogs fuck off to wreck property, kill pets, get killed themselves, and destroy native birds and animals? They’d rightly be called out and have their pets taken away. Take care of YOUR pet and keep it on YOUR property. I’ve had issues with neighbor cats causing damages to my property, and if your pet becomes my pest, I will treat it as such.

          I remember a neighbor’s cat once almost tore through my window screen to get at my pet parrot. If that cat had made it inside my house and attacked my pet, he would not have made it out alive.

          • @[email protected]
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            -11 year ago

            Dogs and cats are not the same. And that sucks.

            I’m also glad I don’t know you and I bet that is mutual. We can celebrate this non-familularity.

    • Bernie Ecclestoned
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      181 year ago

      As the disease progresses, the person may experience delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days. Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal,

          • Ech
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            71 year ago

            It’s a bit old at 2020 though so there are probably a few more.

            Well the average is 1 survivor every 167 years, so I’d say that’s charitable.

              • Ech
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                21 year ago

                30 survivors in 5000 years = 1/167. Apparently it’s about 4000 years, so 1/133. My bad.

                • blanketswithsmallpox
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                  31 year ago

                  Do you believe the earth is 5000 years old or something?

                  The first unvaccinated person to live from rabies was in 2004 due to the Milwaukee Protocol.

                  2023 - 2004 = 19. 29/19 = 1.53 survivors per year.

                  • Ech
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                    21 year ago

                    You’re taking this way more seriously than it was intended. It was an off the cuff comment. I just took the known history of rabies and divided it by known survivors.